No stranger to the limelight, by age 21, Ricky was already considered a “recognized master” of bluegrass, one of America’s most demanding art forms, but his mandolin career took him in other directions, catapulting him to popularity and success in the mainstream of country music. His life’s path has taken him to various musical genres, from where it all began in bluegrass music, to striking out on new musical journeys, while still leaving his musical roots intact. It seems like Ricky Skaggs has been a Reunion Blues fan almost as long as he’s been around. It’s been a life full of music.
Founded in 1976, Reunion Blues has become known as the music industry’s premier gig bag and case company with over 70 models available for fretted, brass, woodwind, strings and percussion instruments. The products are available in Performance fabric, in Classic full-grain leather, and in a new leading-edge RB Continental series that is enjoying huge success in the industry. There’s even a selection of multiple instrument bags like double guitar and triple trumpet.

All Reunion Blues cases and bags feature a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

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Visit http://www.reunionblues.com.

The year was 1985, the place was Loara High School behind the Orange Curtain in Anaheim California. It was a very exciting time for us outcasts of sunny Southern California. Punks, Mods, Skinheads (non-racist kind) and Rock-A-Billies roamed among tourists from far off elusive lands all to get a glimpse of the over-grown mouse on steroids over there at Disney Land … D-Land, as we liked to call it.

It was a melting pot of ideas and sounds that were cooking in Anaheim that year, and myself and a small group of like minded cats were about to start something new. A group of us “band geeks” that played in the marching band, who all happened to be into the Mod and Ska scene that hit the West Coast in the late 70ʼs and early 80ʼs decided to form a Ska band. The name of this early trendsetting Ska group was Applecore. Yeah I know, kinda lame. But after a number of performances at our school, other schools and a church, and after some personnel changes and additions … we voted on a name change, the winning name was No Doubt.

Thus a new era was to begin for us “band geeks” on that beautiful sunny So-Cal day. We started to play covers at every party we could, mainly in and around Orange County. From these parties, word got around concerning this new band of ours and the cute little blonde that fronted the band who would instigate the craziest mosh pits you would ever see. Yes, a Ska band playing music with the biggest mosh pits you could imagine, and creating cloud storms that could be seen from space! The parties started to get out of control, and no home could contain the crowds that would accompany the soon to be legendary band from Anaheim.

Next was Hollywood, and there was no stopping us at that point. Within no time, we owned Los Angeles. Every club and “hotspot” in LA wanted to have No Doubt on their stage, and we weren’t complaining. With our new found stardom, there came a desire to have killer gear and the right look, and letʼs face it … we needed to look cool, and walking around town with my ax in a traditional Trumpet case just wasn’t very cool looking.

I had started playing Trumpet in the 7th grade. By the time I started to attend high school, my wonderful mother had bought me a Bach Trumpet, which is the brand I still play, and am endorsed by today. I needed to transport that ax in style! I knew a Reunion Blues rep, who happened to have a brand new RB leather gig bag with him. He pulled that thing out of the box, the smell of freshly dyed leather and a look of class … man, I was sold! Needless to say, not only did that RB bag make me look good, but it was also a pivotal moment in my professional career as a Trumpet player … it was the first time, that I had felt as if I had finally made it! My first “gig bag”, are you kidding … I walked around like I owned the joint!

That was 25 years ago, I still have that same gig bag. The new leather smell is no longer present, but that bag is sexy as ever. Weathered with age and sublime … if that gig bag could talk, the stories would be worthy of an Oscar winning film. Trumpets come and go, but that same RB gig bag has been with me for years, and I have never had a problem with it … BUILT TO LAST BABY!

So the rest is history, concerning the band I co-founded. I am very proud of them, and the sound that I helped develop. Both will be around for a long time … and so will that Reunion Blues gig bag I bought 25 years ago. My oldest son plays the Trumpet, and he will soon have that gig bag that has protected my weapon of choice for so many years. I wonder … what stories of his, will that bag tell … if it could talk …

When I was around 10 or 11 years old I made a trip to the local record store (remember those?) with my family knowing that that I wanted to expand my music horizons with “cool” music. I had to buy the record myself so instead of CD section I headed straight for the tapes (remember those ) I picked up Nirvana’s Nevermind and Metallica’s ReLoad because they were “cool” but not too “cool” for my own good (it was the late 90′s). With both tapes in hand I went up to my older brother, stuck them in his face and said, “Which one should I get?” His exact words were, “Get Metallica, everyone has Nirvana.” Those are the words that changed my life forever.

I took the tape home and couldn’t stop listening to it. It spawned my love for Metallica (I started playing guitar because of Kirk Hammett) which opened my eyes to heavy metal and hard rock music which shaped my junior high and high school years. Diving deeper into the origins of hard rock led me to blues music which led me to early country and bluegrass.

I tend to have a little ADD when it comes to music and can never stay on one type of music very long. Maybe that helped me explore and like many different genres of music along the way. However, I consider that one fateful conversation with my older brother to be the beginning of my musical journey that has and will always effect my life for the better.

Where did your music journey begin? Who turned you on to the wonders music had to offer?

Reunion Blues is proud to have him as part of the family and even more proud that he uses our gig bags to protect his instruments.

Check out Justin Meldal-Johnsons artist page here.

Click here for Buddy Guy’s bio page with videos!

John Maher (Marketing Dir.) & Buddy Guy with his Reunion Blue Guitar Bag

To light the fuse

Something to use

To enjoy the views

Find the colors and hues

‘Cause if you have the clues

You cannot lose

Don’t forget to amuse

And bring on the woo hoo’s!

Without relying on booze

How do you find the muse?

As a constant traveling musician, Ric Hall relies on one gig bag to see him through and Reunion Blues fits that bill. Now we are proud to have him apart of the family. Check out Ric Hall’s Reunion Blues Artist Page Here!

Rory Gallagher played some of the rockingest blues based guitar of the baby boomer generation. He turned down a request to join the Rolling Stones because he did not want to be boxed in. In addition to his brilliant guitar work, he wrote scads of top shelf songs and raged through different leads each time he performed them. His enthusiasm is evident in each performance. He jumped around the stage like Angus Young of AC/DC, but with less manic movement. He drew his band members in with eye contact and brought out their best like a good football coach.

In his trademark plaid shirt and jean jacket, Rory was not quite Jimi Hendrix wearing a feather boa, but for a regular guy he made you want to watch, listen and move. Legend has it that when Jimi Hendrix was asked how it felt to be the greatest guitar player in the world, he said “ask Rory Gallagher”. High praise indeed.

His brother Donal created and has been the caretaker of a fabulous website www.rorygallagher.com. Youtube videos are many. For my money, I like Bullfrog Blues and A Million Miles Away. A Blu Ray edition DVD was recently released of the Irish Tour ’74 including documentary footage. He comes across as a very humble man who loved his craft. Unfortunately, he passed away too early in 1995, but thanks to videos, he still lives on. Rock On Rory!

At first glance I was like, “Oh great another Guitar Hero…” As I looked a little closer though, I saw the gamer was actually playing a real guitar. I had to know more!

Is this the future of learning to play an instrument? For people like me, a hobby guitar player at best, this is perfect. I get to play famous songs all the way through on a real instrument and it’ll increase my difficulty as I learn. Jackpot! However, as the way I am with most things, I have to play devils advocate. A concern of mine and something I hope the game will address in the future, is how is it going to teach creativity and imagination that make good guitar players great? We can all agree that running off the tracks a little can get the creative juices flowing but this game is teaching kids to stay completely on the tracks.

One thing is for certain, this game has a chance to be a game changer (no pun intended ) and regardless of what the answers are to my previous questions I am for anything that will put a real instrument in the hands of more kids.

The winner will receive the following:

RB Continental Guitar Case
Reunion Blues Merino Wool Guitar Strap
Fender® ’65 Deluxe Twin Rever Amplifier
Fender® Custom Shop Stratocaster®

Thanks to everyone who participated and stay tuned to us because we’ve got more coming your way.